Standardizing run-time and historical customer and test environments and workloads comparisons using specific sets of key platform data points

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present invention include a method, system and computer program product. The method includes a processor determining a number of data points necessary for standardizing customer and test environments and workloads comparisons; storing the data points in a database; determining that one or more of the data points are not in numeric format and converting these data points to numeric format; determining that one or more of the data points are not part of a standard and available data collection and adding these data points to a standard and available data collection; determining that one or more of the data points are not included across multiple product or functionality versions or releases and implementing these data points across multiple product or functionality versions or releases; and incorporating the data points into standard comparisons for the environments and workloads.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to the testing of software, hardware,firmware, and/or other disciplines, and more specifically, to a method,system and computer program product that implement aspects of workloadand operational profiling, coupled with business analytics, therebyresulting in improvements in the testing of customer software.

In the field of software testing, as in many other technical fields,improvements are constantly being sought, primarily for cost andaccuracy reasons. A fundamental goal of software testing in theory is toidentify all of the problems in a customer's software program before theprogram is released for use by the customer. However, in reality this isfar from the case as typically a software program is released to thecustomer having some number of problems that were unidentified duringthe software development and testing process.

A relatively more proactive approach to improving software testing issought that employs traditional methods of understanding characteristicsof clients' environments, augmented with a process of data miningempirical systems data. Such client environment and workload profilinganalysis may result in software test improvements based oncharacteristics comparisons between the client and the testenvironments.

SUMMARY

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, acomputer-implemented method includes determining, by a processor, anumber of data points necessary for standardizing customer and testenvironments and workloads comparisons; storing, by the processor, thedata points in a database; and determining, by the processor, that oneor more of the data points are not in numeric format and converting, bythe processor, one or more of the data points that are not in numericformat to numeric format. The method also includes determining, by theprocessor, that one or more of the data points are not part of astandard and available data collection and adding, by the processor, oneor more of the data points that are not part of a standard and availabledata collection to a standard and available data collection;determining, by the processor, that one or more of the data points arenot included across multiple product or functionality versions orreleases and implementing, by the processor, one or more of the datapoints that are not included across multiple product or functionalityversions or releases across multiple product or functionality versionsor releases; and incorporating, by the processor, the data points intostandard comparisons for the environments and workloads.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a systemincludes a processor in communication with one or more types of memory,the processor configured to determine a number of data points necessaryfor standardizing customer and test environments and workloadscomparisons; to store the data points in a database; and to determinethat one or more of the data points are not in numeric format and toconvert one or more of the data points that are not in numeric format tonumeric format. The processor is further configured to determine thatone or more of the data points are not part of a standard and availabledata collection and to add one or more of the data points that are notpart of a standard and available data collection to a standard andavailable data collection; to determine that one or more of the datapoints are not included across multiple product or functionalityversions or releases and to implement one or more of the data pointsthat are not included across multiple product or functionality versionsor releases across multiple product or functionality versions orreleases; and to incorporate the data points into standard comparisonsfor the environments and workloads.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computerprogram product includes a non-transitory storage medium readable by aprocessing circuit and storing instructions for execution by theprocessing circuit for performing a method that includes determining anumber of data points necessary for standardizing customer and testenvironments and workloads comparisons; storing the data points in adatabase; and determining that one or more of the data points are not innumeric format and converting one or more of the data points that arenot in numeric format to numeric format. The method also includesdetermining that one or more of the data points are not part of astandard and available data collection and adding one or more of thedata points that are not part of a standard and available datacollection to a standard and available data collection; determining thatone or more of the data points are not included across multiple productor functionality versions or releases and implementing one or more ofthe data points that are not included across multiple product orfunctionality versions or releases across multiple product orfunctionality versions or releases; and incorporating the data pointsinto standard comparisons for the environments and workloads.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniquesof the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the inventionare described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimedinvention. For a better understanding of the invention with theadvantages and the features, refer to the description and to thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The forgoing and other features, and advantages ofthe invention are apparent from the following detailed description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a cloud computing environment according to one or moreembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts abstraction model layers according to one or moreembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating one example of a processingsystem for practice of the teachings herein; and

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for standardizing run-time andhistorical customer and test environments and workloads comparisonsusing specific sets of data points in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 1 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 1) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 2 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and a method 96 for standardizing run-timeand historical customer and test environments and workloads comparisonsusing specific sets of data points in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a processing system 100 forimplementing the teachings herein according to one or more embodiments.The system 100 has one or more central processing units (processors) 101a, 101 b, 101 c, etc. (collectively or generically referred to asprocessor(s) 101). In one embodiment, each processor 101 may include areduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor. Processors 101are coupled to system memory 114 and various other components via asystem bus 113. Read only memory (ROM) 102 is coupled to the system bus113 and may include a basic input/output system (BIOS), which controlscertain basic functions of system 100.

FIG. 3 further depicts an input/output (I/O) adapter 107 and a networkadapter 106 coupled to the system bus 113. I/O adapter 107 may be asmall computer system interface (SCSI) adapter that communicates with ahard disk 103 and/or tape storage drive 105 or any other similarcomponent. I/O adapter 107, hard disk 103, and tape storage device 105are collectively referred to herein as mass storage 104. Operatingsystem 120 for execution on the processing system 100 may be stored inmass storage 104. A network adapter 106 interconnects bus 113 with anoutside network 116 enabling data processing system 100 to communicatewith other such systems. A screen (e.g., a display monitor) 115 isconnected to system bus 113 by display adaptor 112, which may include agraphics adapter to improve the performance of graphics intensiveapplications and a video controller. In one embodiment, adapters 107,106, and 112 may be connected to one or more I/O busses that areconnected to system bus 113 via an intermediate bus bridge (not shown).Suitable I/O buses for connecting peripheral devices such as hard diskcontrollers, network adapters, and graphics adapters typically includecommon protocols, such as the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI).Additional input/output devices are shown as connected to system bus 113via user interface adapter 108 and display adapter 112. A keyboard 109,mouse 110, and speaker 111 all interconnected to bus 113 via userinterface adapter 108, which may include, for example, a Super I/O chipintegrating multiple device adapters into a single integrated circuit.

In exemplary embodiments, the processing system 100 includes a graphicsprocessing unit 130. Graphics processing unit 130 is a specializedelectronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to acceleratethe creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to adisplay. In general, graphics processing unit 130 is very efficient atmanipulating computer graphics and image processing, and has a highlyparallel structure that makes it more effective than general-purposeCPUs for algorithms where processing of large blocks of data is done inparallel.

Thus, as configured in FIG. 3, the system 100 includes processingcapability in the form of processors 101, storage capability includingsystem memory 114 and mass storage 104, input means such as keyboard 109and mouse 110, and output capability including speaker 111 and display115. In one embodiment, a portion of system memory 114 and mass storage104 collectively store an operating system to coordinate the functionsof the various components shown in FIG. 3.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention,methods, systems, and computer program products are disclosed forstandardizing run-time and historical customer and test environments andworkloads comparisons using specific sets of data points.

With reference now to FIG. 4, a flow diagram illustrates a method 200according to one or more embodiments of the present invention forstandardizing run-time and historical customer and test environments andworkloads comparisons using specific sets of data points.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the method 200 maybe embodied in software that is executed by computer elements locatedwithin a network that may reside in the cloud, such as the cloudcomputing environment 50 described hereinabove and illustrated in FIGS.1 and 2. In other embodiments, the computer elements may reside on acomputer system or processing system, such as the processing system 100described hereinabove and illustrated in FIG. 3, or in some other typeof computing or processing environment.

After a start operation in block 204, an operation in block 208determines the data points necessary for standardizing run-time andhistorical customer and test environments and workloads comparisons.This may be accomplished by consultation with subject matter expertsfrom each operational, environmental, workload, application, and/orfunctional area(s) to be analyzed for customer profiling comparisons.

An operation in block 212 stores the data points and all accompanyingdescriptions and relationships information in a database.

An operation in block 216 determines whether or not one or more of thedata points are in numeric format, suitable for statistical andanalytical comparisons. If any one or more of the data points are not innumeric format, an operation in block 220 converts the data points thatare not in numeric format to numeric format. That is, the non-numericvalues of one or more of the data points are converted to numericrepresentations. For example, an alphabetical scale may be converted toa numeric scale.

An operation in block 224 determines whether or not one or more of thedata points are part of a standard and available data collection. If anyone or more of the data points are not part of a standard and availabledata collection, then an operation in block 228 adds these data pointsto a standard and available data collection.

An operation in block 232 determines whether or nor one or more of thedata points are included across multiple product or functionalityversions or releases. If any one or more of the data points are notincluded across multiple product or functionality versions or releases,an operation in block 236 implements these data points as a standardcomponent across multiple product or functionality versions or releases.

An operation in block 240 incorporates the data points into standardcomparisons for the environments and workloads.

In embodiments of the present invention, to properly compare run-timeand/or historical environments and workloads, including those of thecustomers and the business entity (e.g., IBM Test), a standard set ofdata points or measurements is needed to provide consistency andreliability of these comparisons. The data points may be provided bysubject matter experts in the specific environment or workloadfunctional area to be compared. Also, the data points may be numeric,with non-numeric values being converted to a numeric scale. In addition,the numbers of the data points per functional area (comprising the setof data points) can range from a few to a large number, dependent onwhat is needed to make the appropriate functional area comparisons. Asubset of data points within a set can be used for comparisons within afunctional area.

Further, the sets of data points may be readily available within theplatform's hardware, software, or firmware functional area as a standardpart of the environment and/or workload data collection. This is so thatcustomers and test teams may readily provide these data points, which isneeded for run-time data collection and comparisons. The data points maybe available across the multiple versions or releases of the hardware,software, firmware to be compared. Also, the sets of data points may beretained in a database repository for customer and test workloadrun-time and historical comparisons and retention, and for futureanalytics and cognitive analyses.

Embodiments of the present invention utilize sets of subject matterexpert (SME) defined data points for specific platform hardware,software, or firmware functional areas to standardize run-time and/orhistorical comparisons between customer and test environments andworkloads. Using standard data point sets of key environment and/orworkload characteristics for platform functional areas allows forstandard comparisons and measurements or scores to be conducted acrossor between customers and/or the business entity.

For run-time environment and/or workload comparisons, the data pointsmay be available and documented within the product's functional area tobe compared. Also, a database for these sets of data points and ease ofuse access through a Java or similar interface provide the capabilityfor run-time and historical comparisons. The database also provides thecapability for analytics and cognitive analyses to provide deeperinsight of individual data points and relationships between multipledata points, within and between different sets of data points.

In addition, statistical summaries for each data point (for example,minimum, maximum, mean, standard deviation, etc.) can be retained withinthe database, and observations data for each data point can be retainedwithin the database. Further, time series data for each data pointretained can be within the database.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions execute entirely on the user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely onthe remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputer may be connected to the user's computer through any type ofnetwork, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network(WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (forexample, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). Insome embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The following definitions and abbreviations are to be used for theinterpretation of the claims and the specification. As used herein, theterms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,”“having,” “contains” or “containing,” or any other variation thereof,are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, acomposition, a mixture, process, method, article, or apparatus thatcomprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only thoseelements but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such composition, mixture, process, method, article, or apparatus.

As used herein, the articles “a” and “an” preceding an element orcomponent are intended to be nonrestrictive regarding the number ofinstances (i.e., occurrences) of the element or component. Therefore,“a” or “an” should be read to include one or at least one, and thesingular word form of the element or component also includes the pluralunless the number is obviously meant to be singular.

As used herein, the terms “invention” or “present invention” arenon-limiting terms and not intended to refer to any single aspect of theparticular invention but encompass all possible aspects as described inthe specification and the claims.

As used herein, the term “about” modifying the quantity of aningredient, component, or reactant of the invention employed refers tovariation in the numerical quantity that can occur, for example, throughtypical measuring and liquid handling procedures used for makingconcentrates or solutions. Furthermore, variation can occur frominadvertent error in measuring procedures, differences in themanufacture, source, or purity of the ingredients employed to make thecompositions or carry out the methods, and the like. In one aspect, theterm “about” means within 10% of the reported numerical value. Inanother aspect, the term “about” means within 5% of the reportednumerical value. Yet, in another aspect, the term “about” means within10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1% of the reported numerical value.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:determining, by a processor, a number of data points necessary forstandardizing customer and test environments and workloads comparisons;storing, by the processor, the data points in a database; determining,by the processor, that one or more of the data points are not in numericformat and converting, by the processor, one or more of the data pointsthat are not in numeric format to numeric format; determining, by theprocessor, that one or more of the data points are not part of astandard and available data collection and adding, by the processor, oneor more of the data points that are not part of a standard and availabledata collection to a standard and available data collection;determining, by the processor, that one or more of the data points arenot included across multiple product or functionality versions orreleases and implementing, by the processor, one or more of the datapoints that are not included across multiple product or functionalityversions or releases across multiple product or functionality versionsor releases; and incorporating, by the processor, the data points intostandard comparisons for the environments and workloads.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein determining, by aprocessor, a number of data points necessary for standardizing run-timeand historical customer and test environments and workloads comparisonscomprises analyzing, by a processor, one or more of operational,environmental, workload, application, and functional areas.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein storing, by theprocessor, the data points in a database comprises storing, by theprocessor, accompanying descriptions and relationships informationrelating to the data points in a database.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1 wherein converting, by the processor, one or more ofthe data points that are not in numeric format to numeric formatcomprises converting, by the processor, one or more of the data pointsin an alphabetical scale to a numeric scale.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1 wherein determining, by a processor, a number of datapoints necessary for standardizing customer and test environments andworkloads comparisons comprises determining, by a processor, a number ofdata points necessary for standardizing run-time customer and testenvironments and workloads comparisons.
 6. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1 wherein determining, by a processor, a number of datapoints necessary for standardizing customer and test environments andworkloads comparisons comprises determining, by a processor, a number ofdata points necessary for standardizing historical customer and testenvironments and workloads comparisons.
 7. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1 wherein a number of data points necessary forstandardizing customer and test environments and workloads comparisonscomprises a number of data points within a hardware, software orfirmware functional area of a platform.
 8. A system comprising: aprocessor in communication with one or more types of memory, theprocessor configured to: determine a number of data points necessary forstandardizing customer and test environments and workloads comparisons;store the data points in a database; determine that one or more of thedata points are not in numeric format and to convert one or more of thedata points that are not in numeric format to numeric format; determinethat one or more of the data points are not part of a standard andavailable data collection and add one or more of the data points thatare not part of a standard and available data collection to a standardand available data collection; determine that one or more of the datapoints are not included across multiple product or functionalityversions or releases and to implement one or more of the data pointsthat are not included across multiple product or functionality versionsor releases across multiple product or functionality versions orreleases; and incorporate the data points into standard comparisons forthe environments and workloads.
 9. The system of claim 8 wherein theprocessor configured to determine a number of data points necessary forstandardizing run-time and historical customer and test environments andworkloads comparisons comprises the processor configured to analyzeprocessor, one or more of operational, environmental, workload,application, and functional areas.
 10. The system of claim 8 wherein theprocessor configured to store the data points in a database comprisesthe processor configured to store accompanying descriptions andrelationships information relating to the data points in a database. 11.The system of claim 8 wherein the processor configured to convert one ormore of the data points that are not in numeric format to numeric formatcomprises the processor configured to convert one or more of the datapoints in an alphabetical scale to a numeric scale.
 12. The system ofclaim 8 wherein the processor configured to determine a number of datapoints necessary for standardizing customer and test environments andworkloads comparisons comprises the processor configured to determine anumber of data points necessary for standardizing run-time customer andtest environments and workloads comparisons.
 13. The system of claim 8wherein the processor configured to determine a number of data pointsnecessary for standardizing customer and test environments and workloadscomparisons comprises the processor configured to determine a number ofdata points necessary for standardizing historical customer and testenvironments and workloads comparisons.
 14. The system of claim 8wherein a number of data points necessary for standardizing customer andtest environments and workloads comparisons comprises a number of datapoints within a hardware, software or firmware functional area of aplatform.
 15. A computer program product comprising: a non-transitorystorage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructionsfor execution by the processing circuit for performing a methodcomprising: determining a number of data points necessary forstandardizing customer and test environments and workloads comparisons;storing the data points in a database; determining that one or more ofthe data points are not in numeric format and converting one or more ofthe data points that are not in numeric format to numeric format;determining that one or more of the data points are not part of astandard and available data collection and adding one or more of thedata points that are not part of a standard and available datacollection to a standard and available data collection; determining thatone or more of the data points are not included across multiple productor functionality versions or releases and implementing one or more ofthe data points that are not included across multiple product orfunctionality versions or releases across multiple product orfunctionality versions or releases; and incorporating the data pointsinto standard comparisons for the environments and workloads.
 16. Thecomputer program product of claim 15 wherein determining a number ofdata points necessary for standardizing run-time and historical customerand test environments and workloads comparisons comprises analyzing oneor more of operational, environmental, workload, application, andfunctional areas.
 17. The computer program product of claim 15 whereinstoring the data points in a database comprises storing accompanyingdescriptions and relationships information relating to the data pointsin a database.
 18. The computer program product of claim 15 whereinconverting one or more of the data points that are not in numeric formatto numeric format comprises converting one or more of the data points inan alphabetical scale to a numeric scale.
 19. The computer programproduct of claim 15 wherein determining a number of data pointsnecessary for standardizing customer and test environments and workloadscomparisons comprises determining a number of data points necessary forstandardizing run-time customer and test environments and workloadscomparisons.
 20. The computer program product of claim 15 whereindetermining a number of data points necessary for standardizing customerand test environments and workloads comparisons comprises determining anumber of data points necessary for standardizing historical customerand test environments and workloads comparisons.